Press: Americans revel in extended Democratic primary

Monday

Mar 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMMar 31, 2008 at 7:05 PM

You might call it Press' First Rule of Politics: The longer you're inside the Beltway, the more disconnected you are from the real world. And nothing proves it more than the current whining about how harmful this year's continuing primary is to the Democratic Party.

Bill Press/Syndicated columnist

You might call it Press' First Rule of Politics: The longer you're inside the Beltway, the more disconnected you are from the real world. And nothing proves it more than the current whining about how harmful this year's continuing primary is to the Democratic Party.

You'll notice that most complaints about the primary come, not from real Americans, but from talking heads on television: 90 percent of whom live inside the Beltway, and 95 percent of whom are incapable of thinking for themselves and merely echo what other gasbags have to say.

It's ironic that those complaining about the Democratic primary's taking too long are the same bloviators who were complaining, only a few months ago, that the party's nominee would be decided too early. At least they're consistent. They were wrong then and they're wrong now.

But it's hardly the first time the media intelligentsia have been hopelessly out of touch with reality. During the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Washington's sanctimonious talking heads demanded that Bill Clinton resign the presidency. Meanwhile, out in the heartland, a majority of Americans said he should hang in there and fight.

We're seeing the same disconnect today. Inside the Beltway, most pundits are demanding that Hillary Clinton quit the primary because Barack Obama's ahead in delegates. Besides, they argue, Democrats are worried that the long primary is irreparably damaging the Democratic party.

Nonsense. Once again, the chattering class is living in its own world. It's not true that Democrats are sick and tired of the primary. According to the latest Rasmussen poll, only 22 percent of Democrats believe that Hillary Clinton should abandon the race. Curiously enough, the same number, 22 percent, believe Barack Obama should drop out. Meanwhile, 62 percent of all Democrats want the primary to continue until there's a clear winner. Most Americans, in other words, get what the Washington elite doesn't: You don't call the game at halftime just because one team's ahead.

Nor is there any evidence that the unusually lengthy primary is damaging the Democratic party. In fact, it's just the opposite. Starting in Iowa, Democrats have come back to life with a vengeance. The Iowa Democratic caucus attracted a record 227,000 voters - many of them first-time and young voters. That was almost twice the Republican turnout. And that outburst of enthusiasm has continued in every state.

In Ohio, as reported by Dan Balz in The Washington Post, 2.2 million voters turned out for the Democratic primary, compared to only 1.1 million Republicans. Voter participation in Texas was equally lopsided: 2.9 million Democrats vs. 1.4 million Republicans.

And the excitement has kept growing with each additional primary. When registration for the April 22 Pennsylvania primary closed on March 24, state officials announced that Democrats had set a new record for either party: over 4 million registered voters. Leading up to the primary, Democrats added 161,000 new voters, while Republicans lost almost 60,000. The same pattern is being observed in North Carolina, Indiana and other states with upcoming primaries.

There are only two reasons for that newfound energy: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They're providing us with the most exciting primary contest in our lifetime, and the end result will be extremely advantageous to Democrats. Whenever it's over, and whoever wins, Democrats will have built a ground operation in every state, including states and congressional districts they never bothered to campaign in before. And Democrats will have created a huge new historic pool of dedicated voters to help propel them to victory.

When will either Obama or Clinton lock down the nomination? Who knows? But whether it's Puerto Rico in June or Denver in August, there will still be plenty of time to unite the party against John McCain. All those newly energized Democrats are not going to go away quietly. They will quickly rally to prevent a man from reaching the White House who would simply deliver the third Bush presidency.

So far, so good. Unless it gets really, really ugly - which neither Clinton nor Obama will allow - the Democratic primary of 2008 is not hurting the Democratic Party. It's the best thing that has ever happened to the Democratic Party. Let every state vote!

Contact Bill Press at bill@billpress.com.

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